Braves' Julio Teheran on pace for opening day start

Manager Fredi Gonzalez basically confirmed the news, though wouldn't say it with 100 percent certainty."Yeah, I think so," Gonzalez said when asked. "But I don’t even want to go there, because there’s so much stuff that could happen."

The move shouldn't come as a surprise. The 24-year-old Teheran made the All-Star team last year, and has been the team's best starter for a couple of seasons now.

Teheran is coming off a season in which he posted a 2.89 ERA over 221 innings last year.

Julio Teheran picks up the win Wednesday

by Chris Cwik | CBSSports.com

(9/24/14) Braves pitcher Julio Teheran picked up a win Wednesday against the Pirates.

Teheran allowed two runs on six hits over five innings. He struck out six and walked three during the outing. Teheran gave up both runs in the fifth inning. After a groundout, Starling Marte managed a single against Teheran. With Marte on first, Andrew McCutchen belted a two-run homer out to left. Teheran would get out of the inning without giving up any more runs, but would not come out to start the sixth.

With the win, Teheran improved to 14-13.

Julio Teheran goes seven innings strong in tough-luck loss

by Igor Mello | CBSSports.com

(9/19/14) Braves starting pitcher Julio Teheran hurled seven dominant innings in a tough-luck loss to the Mets at home Friday night, dropping to 13-13 on the year. He permitted two runs on seven hits and no walks while striking out six over seven innings of a 5-0 defeat.

Over his last three starts covering 20 1/3 innings, Teheran has allowed six earned runs. He owns a 2.88 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP over 32 starts (216 innings). Teheran will have one more chance to climb over .500 before the end of the season. That opportunity will come Wednesday at home against Pittsburgh.

Julio Teheran takes complete-game loss Saturday

by R.J. White | CBSSports.com

(9/13/14) Braves pitcher Julio Teheran picked up a complete-game loss Saturday, giving up three unearned runs on three hits and one walk in eight innings while striking out six in his team's 3-2 defeat against the Rangers.

Teheran (13-12) took a no-hitter into the sixth inning but saw the frame extended by an error with two outs, and the Rangers pushed three runs across the late in that same inning to take the lead. Teheran owns a 2.89 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 174:48 K:BB ratio in 209 innings. He's scheduled to face the Mets Friday.

Barrage of hits chases Julio Teheran in sixth inning

by Al Melchior | Data Analyst

(9/7/14)Julio Teheran appeared to be on his way to a strong outing, but difficulties in the fifth and sixth innings led to a loss for the righty and the Braves versus the Marlins on Sunday.

Teheran was on the wrong side of the 4-0 final score, even though he held the Marlins to one single through 4 2/3 innings. Then he allowed three straight hits -- and the Marlins' first run -- in the fifth inning and was forced to exit the game after allowing four more hits and two more runs in the sixth inning. Jarrod Saltalamacchia's sacrifice fly off Luis Avilan accounted for the Marlins' fourth run off Teheran.

The 23-year-old finshed having allowed four runs on eight hits over 5 1/3 innings, though he struck out five batters and walked none. Teheran is now 13-11 with a 3.00 ERA.

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2014 summary:Julio Teheran built off an impressive rookie season, improving his ERA, WHIP and home run rate to emerge as an ace or something close to it. The one area where he fell short was strikeouts, his rate of 7.6 per nine innings not all that impressive by today's standards, but he's capable of more and showed it with a rate of 8.2 per nine in 2013.

Playing time status: After throwing 188 1/3 innings (playoffs included) as a rookie, Teheran upped it to 221 last year, taking on a true ace workload for the Braves. But he may have tired over the course of the season, compiling a 3.69 ERA over his final 15 starts. He should get more consistent as he learns to extend himself over a six-month schedule. He's only 24, after all.

2015 outlook: The improvement in ERA and WHIP for Teheran reflected an improvement in peripherals, apart from strikeout rate, which suggests they may well be sustainable. But quite honestly, they were pretty good in 2013, too. The biggest change for him was the increased workload, which is part of the natural maturation for a front-line starting pitcher. Teheran is clearly a pitcher with elite talent even if he's still growing into it. Target him among the top 20 starting pitchers on Draft Day.
(Updated 12/19/14)